Yes, you can use WordPress for your online shop and there are more options – themes and plugins – all the time, as we really settle down with WordPress for our websites. We’re setting up two stores this month so it’s a good time to check the latest ecommerce plugins as we decide which will work best for our clients, and share this with you.

Before you even look at them, though, you need to (really – it will save you a lot of time) know what you want your online shop to do and to consider the following:

Cost of the plugin – now and as you want more functionality? One good way to know the limitations of a free version is to take a look at the upgrades available – a quick view of what the free plugin does not include/do.

Products – How many does a free version allow for? What variations are required for your products (size, colour, etc) – can the plugin handle this?

Payment processing – PayPal is most often fine, but if you want to use something less common, such as SagePay then you do need to check that support is available for this (and look in the forums too, plus do a Google for your particular need – that way you’re more likely to find any problems others have had (can you tell that I’ve had problems with this particular issue before 😉 )

Postage/Shipping options – free p&p and a single scale is generally fine, but when you want more than that again you need to check that the plugin can handle it. (Another that has restricted us before with some of the plugins). Most plugins can handle a weight or table or a flat rate – but what if you want a combination of these?

Support – is there a forum for users and how well is that responded to – it really is worth taking a look at what current users of the plugin are asking and if they are getting answered/helped.

Extras – do you want to offer discounts – check the features of each to see which allow for this and what other extras you can consider.

I have worked with this plugin and found it hugely frustrating for what we wanted it to do, I must admit – it’s not one I recommend although it is one of the most popular, so it must have something going for it aside from the fact that it is one of the most established. Now that we have more choice, it is worth taking some time to consider as many as you can.

The basic plugin is free with a number of upgrade options that anyone wanting more will need to take into consideration. I do know that the team have worked hard to raise the support for this plugin and it remains the most popular – having been one of the first. But do have a good read of their site to be sure it does what you need it to – this goes for any of the plugins offered.

I would go with Ecwid except for their ongoing monthly charge for over 100 items – I’d rather buy an upgrade outright. So WooCommerce is our favourite for one project at least and possibly Ecwide for another (we really do like the drag and drop into basket option) for another if the client is happy with their pricing. We will update you with our experiences. If you have used any of the above, or others, we’d love to hear your experiences, especially the good and the things to watch out for.

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